IGN and GameSpy from QuakeCon - 8/4/07

GameSpy has a one-page preview from QuakeCon on Left 4 Dead. They talked about the improved graphics, and particularly the face animations:

"Other new additions include more facial animations for the rag-tag band of survivors. We take a moment to watch an attendee play as Zoe, the lone female survivor. As she unleashes a hale of fire from her gun into a mob of infected she grits her teeth and has a "come get some" look on her face. Her expression then changes to one of noticeable unhappiness of the overall situation as she runs down an empty street. As she makes her way into a building she looks around and is clearly spooked. Suddenly, dozens of infected appear and swarm her and you can see the fear on her face. As starts to get overwhelmed you can see the look of desperation set in before the inevitable happens. Zoe isn't alone, each character is incredibly expressive and the effect really makes them feel like living, breathing people."

GameSpy goes on to explain the different boss zombies in detail. Deek from our forums pointed out when talking about the Boomer's vomit, they said "Not only that, but this power can be charged up. The longer you go without vomiting, the more infected will appear when you eventually do hurl." This is new information, we hope that the difference is large enough to be an important strategic factor when playing the Boomer. Speaking of the infected side in general:

"One of the developers from Turtle Rock Studios described it best by saying, 'It's almost like playing as a griefer, only it's encouraged, and the better you do at it, the more fun the other team has.'"

IGN has posted a short article and 5 pictures from QuakeCon telling about how massive the line has been. The doors opened at 10:00AM, and at precisely 10:03 Valve's booth line was full! Definitely a lot of people getting excited for this game.

At the end, IGN promises "fresh impressions and direct-feed video" - keep on the lookout!